


sand, sleep, and fire lilies

by aliensroutthere



Series: Zutara Month 2017 [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, Romance, Zutara Week 2017, falling asleep together, fire lilies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-02
Updated: 2017-12-02
Packaged: 2019-02-09 09:31:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12885018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aliensroutthere/pseuds/aliensroutthere
Summary: zuko is distracted with thoughts of the upcoming final battle. soon, he gets distracted by something (someone?) else.





	sand, sleep, and fire lilies

**Author's Note:**

> Day 1 of Zutara Week 2017!  
> (I haven't wrote any fic in like... 2 years? oops)  
> Rating is for language, not sexual content.  
> s/o to the lemon alliance, you guys know who you are <3

Day 1: Amongst the Fire Lilies

* * *

 

Zuko laid on the beach, staring at the stars. It was cooler at night, which made being on the sand much more tolerable than during the day. Though the sun had set, and he was tired, he was too anxious to try and sleep.

_One week, and it’s all over, one way or another. Either he dies, or Aang dies. How the hell are we supposed to go against the Father Lord? Fire Lord, shit. Fucking Agni, how did I get myself into this?_

Zuko sighed, and rolled over in the sand, still absorbed in his thoughts, when heard the sand shifting behind him. He bolted up, ready to attack.

“Hey! It’s just me!”

Zuko relaxed. “Sorry, hi. I wasn’t paying attention.”

_Shit, nice going, Mr. Suave._

Katara smiled and sat beside him. “That’s alright.”

Zuko attempted to smile back, but it looked more like a grimace. He hoped Katara couldn’t tell.

She could.

“Is everything okay?” She asked, now concerned. Zuko tried another smile, this one looking a little more believable than the last one. “I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?”

Katara rolled her eyes. They were such a deep shade of blue. Zuko could almost see the reflection of the ocean as he gazed at her. He didn’t know how long he sat, staring into her eyes, until he realized that her expression was expectant. Had she been talking? He shook off his Katara-induced daze.

“Sorry, what?”

She sighed. “You know if something’s bothering you, you can tell me if you need to?”

Zuko smiled softly at her. This time, the smile was real. “I know.” Katara smiled back. “Good.”

They sat together for a while, listening to the waves lapping against the shore and talking about nothing in particular. After a while, Katara began to doze, her head slowly leaning to the side and eventually coming to rest on Zuko’s shoulder. Zuko looked down at her, now napping on his shoulder. She looked absolutely radiant in the moonlight. He then realized that, technically, he was watching Katara as she was sleeping.

_Does that make me a creep? Well, she’s sleeping on MY shoulder, so that means it’s okay, right?_

Soon, Zuko became tired as well. In the interest of not waking Katara up, he slowly began to slide away, trying not to jostle her too much so he could head back to the house. In response to Zuko’s shoulder/her pillow moving, Katara moved closer in her sleep, and cuddled into his side. Zuko froze. He couldn’t wake her up, could he? Of course not. That would be just rude. And Zuko was nothing if not a gentleman.

(At least, that’s what he told himself.)

Coming to the decision that he simply had no other choice, Zuko slowly leaned back into the sand, taking care to not disturb Katara. He made himself somewhat comfortable in the sand, and when he finally settled, Katara managed to somehow snuggle even closer to him. Zuko smiled, though he knew she couldn’t see it. Katara was generally an affectionate person, and it only showed more in her sleep. He wrapped an arm around her and drifted off to sleep, content.

o~O~o

The first thing Zuko noticed when he woke up was that the sun was directly in his eyes. _That’s odd,_ he thought. Zuko yawned, and moved to stretch, when he registered there was a weight on top of him. A warm comfortable weight, that seemed to be hugging him?

_Am I in sand?_

Zuko looked around him, now fully awake, and the memories of the previous night came rushing back to him.

 _Oh, shit_. How could he have been so stupid! He resolved to never, ever make a decision when he was that tired, ever again. Why had his sleep-deprived mind thought that sleeping with Katara (in the literal sense), on a sandy beach was a good idea?

 _Because she’s all you think about and that was the best night’s sleep you’ve ever had,_ his traitorous mind whispered. Zuko groaned. _Will she be mad? Agni, she’s going to hate me again. She’s going to waterbend me into pieces! She’ll drown me. Did I take advantage of the situation? I didn’t want to disturb her! She needs sleep! I did, too!_

While Zuko was busy silently panicking, he didn’t realize that Katara was waking up.

“Hrrrg, shut up,” she murmured sleepily, and Zuko froze.

 _Fucking hell, you woke her up, you absolute idiot_.

Katara turned her head and yawned, and then turned back to look Zuko in the face. When they made eye contact, she frowned in confusion. “Zuko?” She asked, and then yawned again. “Why are you here? Wait, are we… is this sand?”

Zuko’s brain stopped working completely. An adorable, sleepy, confused, gorgeous Katara who had just woken up with him? This was too much for him to handle.

“Buh,” he said stupidly.

Katara’s eyes narrowed in thought, and then a look of comprehension crossed her face. Zuko internally prepared himself to lose her friendship forever.

She looked away, bit her lip, then quietly said, “Thank you for letting me use you as a pillow. I’m sorry it got us stuck on the beach.” She slid off him, and looked away.

Zuko was confused. _Why isn’t she yelling at me?_ He thought. Then, he caught a glimpse of her face.

She was blushing, hard.

Zuko’s brain stopped working again. “Wait, Katara! Don’t-”

Katara froze, but refused to look at him.

“Don’t go, please. I’m sorry I didn’t wake you up, but please don’t be mad. Can we just-”

Katara turned, and looked him in the eyes.

“-talk…?”

They held each other’s gazes, both afraid to ruin the moment. Katara finally broke the silence. “That-that wasn’t the worst night of sleep I’ve had.”

Zuko smiled. “If we’re being honest, that was the best night of sleep I’ve ever had.”

“Even with the sand?”

“Because of the sand, obviously.”

The two shared a laugh, and Katara leaned closer. “Do you think, maybe, that we could possibly do this again tonight?”

Internally, Zuko’s brain was screaming with excitement, but he tried to keep a cool exterior. He could not, however, keep the huge, cheesy grin off his face as he looked back at her (in other news, his ‘cool’ look failed miserably). “Yes! I mean, yeah, sure, that’s cool. It’s whatever. Yeah, okay.”

 _Real smooth, Zuko. Real fuckin’ smooth_.

Katara laughed at his response, and the two gazed at each other with dopey grins.

The moment was shattered when Zuko felt something lightly hit the back of his head.

_What the fu-_

“Good morning, lovebirds!” came a voice from behind them.

Katara and Zuko both turned, both shocked and panicked.

Suki stood behind them, carrying an armful of flowers. “I went out to collect some flowers because the house is all red, it needs colour,” she said, with a wide grin. “And what do I find instead? You two!”

Both Katara and Zuko began to try and explain what was happening, but neither of them had any idea of what exactly their situation was themselves.

“Don’t worry! Your secret is safe with me,” Suki said. Zuko breathed a sigh of relief.

“But watch out, Sokka’s gonna wake up soon.” Suki laughed at the panic that briefly crossed both Zuko’s and Katara’s faces. “Well, you two have a lovely morning! Don’t stay out here too long!” She sang at them, and then dumped her pile of flowers on top of their heads. With that, she turned and headed back up towards the house.

Zuko and Katara stared at each other, each now covered in flowers, and the two burst into laughter. “That- that was too close,” wheezed Katara, and Zuko snorted. “I’ll say.”

Their laughter slowly died out, and they fell into a comfortable silence. “These smell so nice,” said Katara after a moment, holding up an orange flower.

“They’re fire lilies,” Zuko replied. “We grew them at the palace.” He smiled a little sadly. “My mother and I used to pick them.”

Katara smiled. Zuko thought that she had never looked more beautiful to him than she did right now, happy and smiling and surrounded by flowers, with him. He picked up a fire lily and, after a second of hesitation, reached forward and put it into her hair. He didn’t think it had been possible, but Katara’s smile became wider.

Zuko was absolutely intoxicated by her smile.

Slowly, he began to lean forward, waiting to see what she’d do. She bit her lip, smiled shyly once again, and leaned towards him. Slowly they moved closer and closer, until their lips met in a tender, sweet kiss, and soon they were lost in each other’s embrace, together in the fire lilies.


End file.
